My Mom Helped Me Think Bigger Than Prison. Soon, I’ll Graduate College.
Khaȧliq Shakur writes about not letting the criminal legal system define their future.
My Biggest Daily Challenge in Prison Isn’t Violence. It’s the Monotony.
Jy'aire Smith-Pennick, an incarcerated writer in Pennsylvania, writes about the maintaining his mental health with the loss of autonomy and the monotony of prison life.
Exonerated, Graduated and Ready for Law School
An interview with James Soto, "the longest-serving wrongfully convicted prisoner in Illinois history," about what's next for him after his release in December, 2023.
The Farm-to-Prison Pipeline
A glimpse into Mountain View Correctional Facility in Maine where incarcerated people grow their own food, and the right to a healthy meal.
First Class of Incarcerated Students Earn Degrees From Northwestern University
Ta-Nehisi Coates delivered the commencement address for the first class of incarcerated students to receive bachelor's degrees from Northwestern University via the Northwestern Prison Education Program.
I’d Never Owned a Computer. After 17 Years in Prison, I Finally Have One of My Own
A currently incarcerated student at California State University writes about the transformative effect of receiving a laptop for the first time.
About half of Michigan's "juvenile lifers" now free from prison
In accordance with the 2012 US Supreme Court ruling, nearly half of the folks previously sentenced to life without parole as juveniles in Michigan have been re-sentenced, providing a vital renewal of hope for the future.
Justice Department Making Historic Investment in Prison and Jail Reform
The Justice Department will award $10 million to projects that aim to "transform prison cultures, climates, and spaces" in an attempt to ameliorate the conditions within carceral facilities that have led to poor outcomes for both incarcerated people and correctional staff.
How Philadelphia Disrupted the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Since its inception in 2014, the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program has resulted in a 91% reduction in school based arrests in Philadelphia; the successful program is soon to be replicated across Pennsylvania.
Women coming home from prison get little help rebuilding
A glimpse into the challenges faced by Boston women, particularly those with children, returning from incarceration, and the nonprofit programs attempting to help them.
Education needs to be part of prison reform
Ed Gaskin, Executive Director of Greater Grove Hall Main Streets in Boston, makes a case for treating formerly incarcerated individuals not as "perpetrators who should be paying back a debt to society" but rather as "victims" of an systemically unjust incarceration system.
The Beacon Prison Books Project Provides Free Books to Those Behind Bars
Mark Trecka (Binnacle Books) and Laurie Dick (Beacon Prison Rides Project) collaborated to create a volunteer project connecting book requests from incarcerated people in New York to readers outside who are willing to purchase copies.